Your Future Past
by Earthling
Summary: Blake ran away from home, but she never expected to end up so far away!
1. Default Chapter

Your Future Past  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please? AN: Yeah, yeah, I know it's been done, especially recently, but guess what? It's being done again! Hope you enjoy!  
  
Shit. What did that sign say? Blake tried to look through the night darkness and the rain but it was useless. She might as well have been trying to read something a mile away. She thought she had read something about Colorado. She was in Colorado wasn't she? She shook her head as she zoomed past the sign at 70 miles an hour. This was crazy. She should just pull over and wait until either the night or the rain passed, but she didn't do that. She just kept on driving. The feel of the road changed, it was rougher, almost like gravel. Well, what were you going to expect on a strip of highway in the middle of the desert that no one had driven on in probably ten years. Maybe more.  
How had she ended up out in the middle of nowhere, driving like a demon out of hell in the rain on the eve of her birthday? It was all Zander's fault. Zander, her mother, and her dead father. They were the ones that had driven her out into the desert, half a continent away from home, running away on a measlely $500 she'd had stuck away in a bank account across town where her mother couldn't get to it. Zander and all his money, Dad and his bitching, Mom and her drinking. That's what had driven a (just barely) eighteen year old Blake to fill her gas tank up on the $20 she'd stolen from her mom for lunch, pack her boxes and head out of state. She'd left her cell phone on, thinking maybe if someone called her, Mom, Zander, the cops, maybe she'd turn around and go back. But she'd been gone for almost a week now, and the thing had rung once, and that had been Shelly, Blake's "friend" just to find out why she hadn't been at Alex Granguard's "totally bitchin' party" tuesday night. Blake had told her she moved out of state and then told Shelly to go fuck herself, seeing as that was probably the only person in Chicago she hadn't been in bed with. Blake rolled her eyes at the memory. Had it really been only a week since she scraped up enough class credits to pass high school? And what the heck was she going to do in.......where ever she ended up stopping. Where would that be? California? Oh, yeah, great idea. She'd probably end up in a shelter for the homeless before a month was up. What she needed was some quiet little college town where she could find a job, maybe take some night classes, and fade into the background where no one would find her. Not that she expected anyone to come looking.  
Blake reached down and popped a cd in the player. Native American song started pumping through the four speakers in her car, thrumping her seat with the base from the drum. It calmed her down and pulled her away from the dark thoughts she was venturing in. This particular CD was Cheyenne, she thought, though she didn't try to check. There weren't any street lamps on this lonely strip of desert road and there wasn't any friendly moonlight either. Blake let the drums seep through her bones and let up on the gas petal a little, slowing to a pleasant 60 mph. The rain let up finally and she could at least see as far as her headlights shone again.  
Shit! And now that she could see, she could see she wasn't on the road anymore! When had she left it? It must've curved somewhere behind her and she hadn't noticed through all the rain. Crap. She slowed down to a near crawl and prepared to make a U-turn. But oh, no, it wasn't that easy. She heard something rattle and hiss in front of her and noticed the steam, or smoke, starting to seep from beneath her hood. She finished stopping and put the emergency brake on, just in case. She sighed and slammed her open palms on the steering wheel, knowing it did no good. She grabbed her backpack and locked the doors, paranoid enough to worry about the threat of theives in the middle of absolutely nowhere. She got out of the car, very glad the rain had stopped now, and popped the hood. She had pulled her keys out of the ignition so had to use a flashlight to look at the engine. There was some kind of white gaseous substance lifting from somwhere deep with in. Blake took a whiff. It smelled a little acrid, but she wasn't absolutely sure it was smoke. Either way she couldn't drive her car.  
She turned and shone her flashlight the way her car was headed. All she saw was a bunch of dirt and some clumps of grass. She shone it the other way. Same thing. She rolled her eyes at the lack of choice, and headed in the opposite way that her car was headed. She walked for a while, hoping to run into the road, but no such luck. Either she was lost or she had left the road a lot longer ago than she had guesstimated. She sighed and continued her trek, letting her mind drift a bit, not thinking about her problems and not thinking about her assets. She found a stone to kick as she went, and was glad she had when it suddenly disappeared into the darkness and she heard it hitting stone as it.....fell?  
"Cripes!" she exclaimed and took a hasty step backwards. She had nearly walked right into a giant gorge! Where the hell had that come from? Blake played her flashlight around and found that she was still dangerously close to the edge. She couldn't see how deep it was, nor did she feel like finding out. She looked out the other way. All her flashlight could find was more grass, and all her eyes could find was the siluette of a lone tree. Wait! Hadn't she crossed a bridge about an hour back? She didn't remember a river, but she remembered the bridge. Maybe it crossed this gorge. It was a long walk, but it was the best shot she had. How far back had that sign been? Colorado something, she was pretty sure it had been a sign for a town. Well, at least she could make it back to the road.  
Thunder rolled over head and Blake sniffed the air. There was rain coming. Probably a lot of it. She just hoped she could make it somewhere with a roof before it started pouring again. She started walking again, this time along the gorge, trying not to get too far away and at the same time not fall in.  
"Amazing grace" she started singing under her breath. It drove her mother nuts when she did that, just started singing out of the blue. But her mother wasn't around to bitch about it now, was she? So Blake just kept singing. Mother Nature decided not to be kind to her and let a volley of water droplets fall from the clouds that were obscuring the helpful moon. It wasn't the real downpour Blake had feared it would be, though, and it was a good half an hour before she was really wet.  
Maybe it was the rain loosening the dirt, maybe it was the dieing flashlight or maybe it was Blake's own negligance, but she didn't even notice when the ground stopped being there for her to walk on until she was rolling down the steep side of the gorge. She could feel a million bruises forming as she crashed past scraggly bushes toward the pit of the gorge and figured she'd be meeting her maker sooner rather than later. How many people survived a dive down a rocky gorge, after all? And that was her last thought before her head impacted against a large rock and she stopped her rolling on a sturdy ledge. 


	2. The Dream

Your Future Past  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
"Can you hear me?"  
"Can you hear me, young one?"  
Blake could hear him. Who was it? A man. Duh, good one Blake. But the fog was still wrapped around her mind and she couldn't comprehend his words. In fact, she couldn't comprehend anything. Her eyelids were unresponsive, and she wouldn't have lifted them even if she could. She had no idea where she was, but she knew that her body hurt, and she was glad she wasn't in it. The thought that she wasn't in her body didn't disturb her at all, in fact it was rather pleasant. The fog was very supportive, and though a little cold, comfortable enough to take a break in. That's what she was doing, wasn't it? Taking a little break? Yes, that was it. Just resting, here in the nice fog. The nice fog with Indians in it. Indians? Where had they come from? Oh, they weren't actually there. Just their song. Well, actually, it was just one voice, and there weren't any drums like on the CD, but it didn't matter. It was a nice voice, and, as she always did, Blake found more comfort in it.  
She could feel something happening to her body. What it was exactly she couldn't say, but it was good, whatever it was. It warmed the fog up, which was nice. But Blake wasn't really worried about her body right now, she could get back around to it later. Who needed a body anyway, when this fog was so great? The Indian song continued and Blake let herself drift. But then the song stopped. The fog deflated a little, making Blake perk up.  
  
"This is beyond my healing" that voice was saying again, "I will take you to help" Help? Blake didn't need any help, she was perfectly fine. The fog was here, she was here, the nice voice was here. But she had the feeling her nice little vacation was stolen, and that she'd have to leave soon or someone would find out and take her to jail.  
Whoops! Her body was moving. Strange how she could feel it moving, and not be in it. She could tell it wasn't moving under it's own power. Well duh, that would require her being in it! She didn't like the idea of her body moving without her. Besides which, she was getting pulled along with it and stirring up all this lovely fog! And it had gotten cold again. She tried to tell the voice to just go ahead and put her body down, as she was fairly sure the voice was the one carrying it, but of course, not being in her body, she couldn't do that.  
Oh well. It was kind of like being a kite, getting pulled along with her body. There wasn't any wind blowing past her face, but that's what it felt like none the less. She was a kite for a while and then, just as she started to get tired of it, it stopped.  
"Who is it?" Hey, another voice! Great! It was a real good one too, another man. It was full of concern about her, just like the first voice had been. Why were all these voices worried about her? She was perfectly fine, really she was!  
"I do not know" the first voice told the second, "I found her in the gorge, far away from here. I cannot heal her" Hey, her body was moving again! Who were these voices who thought they could just make off with her body and do what ever they wanted with it? It was HER body, after all. And she didn't want to be a kite again, the novelty had worn off. But now the voice brought color to the fog. Well, what d'ya know about that? It was starting to warm up a little again too. The first voice brought a pleasant blue to the fog. It wasn't dark blue, but it wasn't a baby blue or a robin's egg blue either. In fact, Blake wasn't sure it was blue. It was some color she'd never seen before. But it was definitely blue. Yes. A powder blue maybe.  
"I'll take her to Michaela" The second voice brought some color too. Brown. But not an ugly or putrid brown, it was a warm, rich, golden brown. And it smelled like..........trees. That's right. A forest after a good rain. And maybe some ginger for good measure. A very pleasant smell, all in all. Then she was moving again, this time with the second voice, getting farther away from the first. Oh! Too bad. Bye! She tried to call but the fog gulped him up and she couldn't see him anymore. It was getting cold again. Why did that happen whenever she moved? She was still getting pulled along, but she wasn't a kite this time. She thought she was closer to her body now. She felt like she was just riding. It was a nice ride, it took her mind off the coldness of the fog. She felt like singing. But she couldn't think of what exactly a song was. Oh, she was pretty sure it was....yep, that. She was singing. Whatever that was.  
It started getting dark. The brown was still there, and so was the scent, but everything else was murky. She couldn't tell if it was foggy or not. There was a lot of confusion, and a little bit of fear. She didn't know where she was, but she didn't like it. She thought she'd just tell that nice browness to turn around but she was frozen. The coldness had frozen her. And then, ho! Light. A very pleasant light! It was........red. And a little green. And it smelled of.....roses. And mint.  
"Sully?" Another voice! This one was great too, but Blake was too afraid and too cold to feel too cheerful about it.  
"Cloud Dancing found her in the gorge" the brown voice replied and put her body down. Whatever he put it down on, Blake didn't like it. It was dark and held a lot of other people's pain.  
"She has a head wound. I'll have to put stitches in it" the red/green voice said, and that made Blake feel a little bit better. The brown hadn't gone away either. The scents of the fresh forest, ginger, roses and mint blended well together.  
And then all of the sudden there was a mountain lion there, in the darkness. It was standing in front of a light. Or was it making the light? Blake couldn't tell, but the lion was nice. It looked at her with it's big brown eyes and she almost thought she could hear it purring. Did mountain lions purr? Well Blake didn't know, but even if they didn't, she liked the purring. It sat looking at her for a moment. Then there was a wolf. A beautiful white and gray and almost blue wolf. It carried the scent of the browness with it. It looked at the mountain lion and then turned around and headed back where it had come from, the light. The mountain lion stood and started following it. Blake was confused for a moment. The mountain lion stopped and turned around. Oh! She was supposed to follow. Blake got the strange feeling she wasn't really going anywhere though. 


	3. Still Dreaming?

Your Future Past  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Blake moaned. She could feel the sound in her throat and she knew she was back in her body. Wait. Back in her body? What the hell did that mean? That she had been..out of it? Oh, that didn't sound good. She tried to think, but all she could remember were some colors and some smells. That was a big help. She moaned again. Her head hurt. A lot. And so did the rest of her body. Cripes, what had she gotten herself into now? Oh, yeah. She remembered. Rain. Dirt. Flashlight. Gorge. Lack of ground to stand on. So, she was dead, huh? But that didn't jive. People didn't have pain when they were dead. So she must be alive. And if she was alive that meant she'd have to open her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do. Oh well, what must be done must be done. It took a second to get used to the light. But then when she did she saw a roof. Oh good. Someone had found her, out there in that gorge. How splendid. Her throat was dry and it hurt, maybe they could give her some water. She opened her mouth and took a deep breath, then tried to move her abdomen muscles so she could sit up. "Michaela!" a man's voice called. She turned her head just a little and saw him, but just for a second because she had to lay back down again. A woman's face appeared over her head. "You're awake" she said. Well, duh, Blake thought. The woman was pretty though, with red hair and a pleasant smile. "Let me help you sit up" she said and Blake could feel her hands under her back, helping her to slowly fold her body up. It left Blake feeling a little dizzy, and a bit nauseated, but she was glad to be sitting, instead of laying, prone, on her back. "I'm Dr. Quinn" the woman said. Both she and the man were dressed in antique clothing, circa 1860's Blake guessed. She figured she was at some kind of amusement camp, one of those frontier towns that were supported by class field trips and quacky parents that actually had time to spend with their kids. Everything looked pretty authentic though, down to the rumbling sounds of horse drawn wagons outside. Blake should know, she loved the Old West and had done tons of research on the times. If she had ever turned any of that work in for one of her school papers she might've passed with something better than a D+.  
"Oh, where am I?" she asked, closing one eye against the thumping in her head. She reached back and felt a long row of stitches under her hair.  
"Careful" the red head warned, "You had a nasty cut"  
"You're in Colorado Springs" the man answered her. Blake opened her closed eye and tested the pain. It started to recede.  
"Colorado Springs?" she repeated. Yeah, that's what that sign had said.  
"You're lucky Cloud Dancing found you" Dr. Quinn said, "You had a bad head injury"  
"Cloud Dancing?" Blake repeated with a big grin. What a ridiculous name! But she looked at the two faces and knew they were serious. Blake knew some Native Americans did have traditional names still. She toned the grin down to a polite smile.....well, she hoped it was polite anyway.  
"Yeah, guess I am." she added, hoping she hadn't offended them already. The Doc just smiled at her.  
"What's your name?" she asked.  
"Uh, Blake" she answered and recognized the look of surprise on both of their faces, "My parents were hoping for a boy" she added. The Doc nodded.  
"I know the feeling. My name is Michaela"  
"That's a girl's name" Blake said.  
"Only by an 'a' " the Doc smiled, and Blake noticed she was writing something on what looked like a big chart, "What's your last name?" she asked. Blake rubbed the back of her head again, wishing she could just leave, go find her car and get back on the road.  
"Sully" she answered, glancing around for her backpack. It was there on the floor.  
"Sully?" the man repeated. Dr. Quinn hadn't introduced him. He was a good looking man, and Blake noticed he wasn't wearing a wedding band. Of course, men didn't during that period, so maybe he was just "in costume".  
"Yeah, so?" she replied, reaching down for the backpack. The change in position brought pain into her head but she didn't give up. She just couldn't reach it, and before she got off the bed, the man reached down and handed it to her.  
"Nothin'" he said, "It's just, that's my name"  
"Congratulations" Blake said, unzipping the bag. She sighed, realizing she was being rude. She looked up and tried a half a smile.  
"Sorry" she said, "I just...haven't been having the best day" Sully, as she now knew his name, just nodded.  
"Where're you from?" Quinn asked.  
"Around"  
"Do you know how you ended up in the canyon?" The Doctor asked from behind her.  
"I fell...I think" Blake answered, digging in the backpack. Everything seemed to be there. She hoped her CD player wasn't busted, cause that would suck, but she didn't figure this was the best time to pull it out and check.  
"How'd you get all the way out there anyway?" Sully asked.  
"Got lost I guess" Blake answered. She didn't know how far that Indian had carried her to get to this Colorado Springs place but she was getting the feeling that her car was a long way off, and probably in the middle of nowhere by the sound of "all the way out there".  
"Are you traveling alone?" Quinn asked. She sounded surprised.  
"Yeah" Blake confirmed, zipping the backpack up again and swinging it around onto her back.  
"Brave woman" Sully commented.  
"Why?" Blake knew that the deserts tended to harbor freaks and weirdos, but she hadn't been planning on stopping for hitchhikers, and she couldn't think of anything else that would be too terribly dangerous on an interstate highway. Except maybe semi's.  
"On horseback, alone, even if you are dressed as a man" Sully indicated her attire. Blake looked down at her hip hugger-bell bottoms, steel toed combat boots and blue pin-striped belly button length collared shirt. She doubted she'd ever see a man in that kind of outfit. Not a straight one anyway.  
"Are you serious?" she asked. She looked back and forth between the Doc and Sully, who both wore confused expressions, but very serious ones. Blake knew then she had landed right in the middle of Quack Central.  
"Okay, well then" she said, standing up. She took a second to let the dizziness pass, then started backing up towards the door, "Thanks, for fixing me up, Doc, and if you'll just...point me in the direction of my car, I'll be going now" She stopped at the door, crossing her fingers and just willing them to lift their arms without another word.  
"Car?" Quinn repeated, looking at Sully, but he just shrugged.  
"You know...a car....a horseless carriage?" Blake restated, inwardly rolling her eyes at their feigned ignorance. She wasn't there for the show.  
  
"Cloud Dancing didn't find no carriage" Sully told her, "Or no horse either"  
"Oh great!" Blake exclaimed, "So it was stolen!"  
"It might've just run away" the Doctor suggested.  
"If you have money we can get you another horse" Sully added. Now Blake was getting annoyed.  
"Why the hell would I want a horse?" she asked, but then shook her head when it looked like they were going to respond.  
"Never mind" she told them quickly, backing out the door, "I'll just....find another way" she said and turned around to run. She was struck still, however, by the sight she found herself faced with. It was an entire town, all genuine 1860's. Maybe 70's. There were what looked like probably represented hundreds of people walking up and down the dusty road and plank sidewalks, past old fashioned store fronts and tied up horses and wagons. Blake was impressed by its magnificence. Quite a set up.  
"Must be well funded" Blake said to herself and took a step into the dirt road. She promptly backed up again as a wagon went hurtling past. She heard the door opening behind her though and took off again, anxious to get away from that nutty couple.  
"Blake!" she heard Quinn calling after her and picked up the pace a little. Before she could get much farther than the middle of the road though she felt a familiar woozy feeling creeping out from her stomach to turn her legs into jelly.  
"Great timing Blake" she said to herself before she lost consciousness. 


	4. Welcome to Brady World

Your Future Past  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Blake came to consciousness slowly, glad to find there was no pain in her neck from sleeping in the car yet another night. Her eyelids felt heavy as more alertness drifted into her mind. She had been dreaming about something. Fog. And colors. And smells. And a mountain lion and a wolf. She sighed to herself and snuggled into the nice pillow. Pillow? She didn't have a pillow in her car. And then full consciousness took over her, and she remembered what had happened earlier. She was in a bed now, what did that mean? She opened her eyes, hoping against hope that she had dreamed the whole thing and that she was in some nice hospital. Yet again, however, her luck fell through and she found herself in a queen sized bed with a handmade quilt lying over her, a young woman in 1870's style dress pouring water into a basin at her side.  
"Oh, no" Blake groaned, "Please!"  
"Feeling better?" the woman asked. Blake sat up. She could feel her jeans were still on, though her shoes had been removed.  
"That depends" she replied. She felt her stomach grumble. When was the last time she ate? Three days ago? More? Who knew how long she had line out in that gorge before that Indian fellow had found her? Well, you couldn't go three days without water, right, so it couldn't have been longer than that. Stupid, stupid. What the hell was she thinking of? And now her negligence had landed her in this mess. Perfect. Great. Wonderful.  
"My name is Colleen, I'm Dr. Mike's daughter and I'm a doctor too" the woman said. She looked a bit young, not much older than Blake herself. Maybe she graduated early though, went straight into college. She could be a resident too, shadowing Dr........Mike, had she said? There were certainly a lot of doctors around this place.  
"Is there anything you need? Dr. Mike didn't know what was wrong with you, she said it wasn't your head" Blake pushed the blanket back, intent on testing her legs. Her head neglected to tell her that it was still splitting though and she had to abort.  
"Yeah. I have an eating disorder" she told Colleen, " Border line diabetes. It springs up now and again"  
"Diabetes?" Colleen repeated, sounding confused. Blake sighed and closed her eyes. She ran a hand across her face. A doctor who didn't know about diabetes? Dreaming. Please, just let it all be a dream! But she could feel the weakness in her body, and she had never felt bad in a dream. And that's what it was, if it was a dream; bad.  
"Yeah. I have to eat every two hours, pretty much" Blake explained, "Guess I haven't eaten in a few days"  
"A few days? Heavens!" Colleen exclaimed, "Well, if it's food you need, we can get you that. Can you walk?"  
"Oh, sure" Blake answered and swung her feet her feet touch the floor. It was a nice hard wood floor and felt cool under her feet. She closed her eyes and pushed herself up. She grabbed onto Colleen for balance when a wave of dizziness flooded into her head, but kept her feet below her, where they were supposed to be.  
"Well, actually, maybe I can't" she said, feeling the tightness in stomach tighten. It was like her stomach was trying to eat itself.  
"Well, we can at least get you downstairs." Colleen said and Blake had to lean on her as they started downstairs. They moved rather slowly and Blake, for about the millionth time, got angry enough for tears to form. She'd thought she had this beat, getting on a regular schedule and eating all the time. How had she let three days slip by without eating?  
By the time they got down stairs and to a chair, Blake was exhausted. She could feel her arms and hands shaking and the pain from her stomach was starting to give her a headache.  
"Well, look who's up!" Dr. Quinn said, coming in from another room.  
"She said she needs some food, Dr. Mike" Colleen told the woman. She didn't call her mother "mom"? Dr. Mike was Dr. Quinn? Oh, well Blake could at least explain that one; she had said her name was Michaela.  
"Well, we don't have much around here, but you can go down to Grace's" Quinn, or Mike, smiled.  
"I don't think she can walk that far" Colleen said, "She's exhausted and all we did was come downstairs. She says she has an eating disorder called diabetes, and she's supposed to eat every two hours, but hasn't eaten in three days"  
"Diabetes? I think I've heard of that. Well, why don't you go down and see if Grace will let you bring a plate up here. Tell her it's for a patient"  
"All right. I'll be right back" Colleen said and went out the door.  
"Well, Ms. Sully. So, where did you say you were from?"  
"Around" Blake wasn't happy about being there, but she couldn't think about much more than getting some food, and getting it quick.  
"I see" Quinn sighed, "I'm from Boston. My sisters are there, and so is my middle son, Brian. He works for the Globe" That got Blake's attention. The Boston Globe? Yeah, right! But Quinn seemed absolutely serious. So, yet again, Blake didn't say anything. She just worked on breathing. Quinn seemed uncomfortable, but she didn't try to make much more conversation. Colleen showed up with the food a few minutes later. She set it on the table in front of Blake. The smell made her want to throw up, but she knew it was what she needed. She took the spoon and attacked the soup, getting a spoonful or so down a minute. She finally noticed that Quinn and her daughter were watching.  
"Oh, dear, sorry" Quinn said when she realized what they had been doing because Blake looked up at them.  
"This...may take a while. If I eat too fast I'll just get sick" she told them. They smiled and nodded but continued to watch her.  
"Why do you dress like that?" Colleen finally asked in the silence.  
"Colleen!" Quinn exclaimed but she looked like she was interested in the reason too. Blake had finished her soup and bread and was feeling much better. Her body had stopped shaking and she didn't feel sick anymore at least.  
"Uh.." She wasn't sure what exactly Colleen had meant.  
"Well, Sully said you were dressed like a man because you had been traveling alone, on horseback, but...well, that shirt doesn't really hide..I mean, it's rather...tight, isn't it?"  
"Oh, Colleen!" Blake was starting to think this was some kind of freaky settlement, like the Amish or something, only in a messed up sort of way. One of those places where people had reverted to the "old" ways for one reason or another. These people were certainly serious. Although, their complete ignorance of anything advanced, like a car, was weird. Even the Amish knew what cars and phones and TV's were. But Blake didn't feel like asking.  
"I.uh..it..shrunk?" she lied, hoping she sounded at least a little convincing.  
"Well, it doesn't matter, does it, Colleen?" Quinn said, "You look like you're feeling better"  
"I am, thank you" Blake replied, and she wasn't lying about that. Just then, Sully walked in the door, toting a balling toddler.  
"Michaela!" he nearly cried, handing the little girl to Quinn, "I don't know what's wrong with her!" Quinn took the girl and looked her over.  
"What's the matter, Katie?" she asked, though the girl was obviously not going to answer. Blake had a strange feeling, like she tended to have around kids. She liked kids well enough, but kids tended to absolutely love her.  
"This is my youngest daughter, Katie" Quinn informed her patient over her daughter's caterwauling. Blake watched for a minute.  
"Uh.Dr. Quinn?"  
"Oh, call me Mike, dear" she replied.  
"Right. Um...do you mind.I mean, can I..." Michaela looked confused for a moment but then understood.  
"If you want" she said and handed her screaming child to the stranger. Blake sat Katie down on her lap and just looked at her. Katie stopped her crying and looked back up at her.  
"Hello" Blake said.  
"Lo" Katie replied, her eyes still teary. Blake kind of half smiled and set her on the ground. The other three adults in the room were watching, slightly stunned. Katie seemed to think nothing of it, for she went running off into another room.  
"Katie!" Sully called and went off after her, giving Blake one last look.  
"Well, uh, again, thanks for everything" Blake said, standing up and throwing a look around, "If you'll just show me where my shoes and my bag are, I'll be going"  
"Oh, where will you be going?" Michaela asked.  
"Huh? Oh, yeah.going.uh..." This was crazy! Okay, so these people had no idea where her car was, she had no idea where her car was, there weren't any cars in town, she was assuming anyway, and that left the foot.  
"Well, I guess I'll just walk" she told them and they both stared.  
"Walk? Where?" Colleen gasped.  
"UH, back to.wherever your Indian friend found me" It was as good a place as any. At least from there she could get her bearings, right? She had no idea where she was right now.  
"Look" Sully suddenly appeared from the other room, without a Katie Blake noticed, "Even if you wanna go back there, you said yourself you don't know the way. And it's too late to start for the gorge now."  
"Yes. Stay here the night, and if you want, Sully can take you to the gorge tomorrow. I'm sure we can find you somewhere to stay" Michaela added. Blake sighed. It was late in the day, and it was true she had no idea where she was, so they were probably right about this gorge being pretty far away. And she didn't suppose it would be wise to wander around by herself at night looking for a big crack in the earth.  
"I suppose you're probably right" she admitted sullenly, "Prob though. No mullah." The three of them exchanged confused looks. What had she expected? They didn't know what a car was for heaven's sake! And she supposed she'd have to watch her language for the night too. Didn't she have enough problems? Really, did she deserve this?  
"No money" she said.  
"Oh. Well," Michaela gave her husband a look, "You can stay with us for the night. The gorge is closer to the house anyway" Colleen looked happy enough about this, though Sully looked like he had his doubts. Blake shrugged.  
"Good" Michaela clasped her hands, "Colleen, why don't you and Blake return Grace's plate? So she can see some more of the town?" Blake shrugged again when Colleen looked at her with a big smile.  
"Maybe you should change first" Sully suggested, looking at her jeans again. Blake sighed.  
"A skirt I suppose?" she asked.  
"Uh, do you have one?" Colleen asked. Blake thought about it. What was in her backpack other than the walkman? She knew there was a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt, toothbrush and paste, comb, makeup, wallet though the money was bound to be no good here....did she even own a skirt?  
"Well, you can borrow one of mine" Colleen was saying, pushing her up the stairs. She rummaged in a chest at the foot of the bed Blake had previously been occupying and pulled a blue skirt and a white shirt out.  
"These should fit" she said and left Blake to put them on. She spotted her bag on the floor under the window. No way was she wearing a skirt with out something underneath. She pulled her shorts on and then buttoned the white shirt up over her own tank top. She tried to look at herself in the mirror that hung on the wall, but couldn't see much. She found her boots under the bed and laced them up. She probably looked ridiculous!  
"That color is beautiful on you!" Colleen objected when she came out.  
  
"Yeah, right" Blake rolled her eyes sarcastically. She hadn't worn a skirt since she was like five and she didn't like the prospect of wearing them again. Besides which the shorts under it probably created odd wrinkles and bulges where they shouldn't have been. And the shirt was hot already, though she had left it buttoned up only half the way and rolled the sleeves up.  
"Um, did you need some help buttoning it or something?" Colleen asked. Blake raised an eyebrow then rolled her eyes again as she buttoned up the top four buttons, but refused to button the one that would have clenched her windpipe. Colleen smiled cheerfully as they descended the steps and took off into the dusty streets. Colleen pointed out each new building and who owned it. As they walked people passed and waved and said hello and Blake felt like she was in the 1860's version of the Brady Bunch. It was then Blake realized how sarcastic and cynical she had become in her years at high school. She remembered thinking everything was hunky dory, flowers and singing birds, everyone was happy. And then...then Zander got his break and Dad got mad and Mom started drinking and that was it. Life ended. 


	5. Going Insane

Your Future Past  
  
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.  
  
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?  
  
Blake looked up at the house. It was beautiful, for a country setting. Blake rolled her eyes. What the hell was she doing? The only thing there was to do, she supposed, now that night was even closer than it had been hours earlier when Sully had first suggested it. She looked up at their house as Sully put the horses away and Michaela gathered their things out of the wagon while Katie sat on the porch sucking her thumb. Colleen had joined her husband, yes the girl was MARRIED!, so that left Blake alone with this happy family. Happy families tended to depress her.  
"Come in, come in, I'll have dinner ready soon!" Michaela beckoned her. She saw Sully chopping some wood to bring in for the fire, she assumed. Blake sighed and followed her inside. The house was impeciable. All wood and really beautiful.  
"Wow" she murmered.  
"Sully built it himself" Michaela informed her. Blake nodded appreciativly.  
"Wow" she repeated. The furniture was hand hewn too, but it looked very nice.  
"I'll show you to a room" Michaela said, picking Katie up and starting up the stairs. Blake followed up the steep and narrow stair well and down a hall. Michaela opened a door and stepped back.  
"This was Colleen's room" she said, "It has a lovely view. I'm sure you'll be comfortable." Blake nodded and gave the woman a quick smile.  
"I'll call you for dinner, okay?" Blake nodded again and dropped her bag on the bed as Michaela closed the door. She glanced out the window, and the doctor had been right; there was a wonderful view. She turned around and saw a pile of papers on the dresser. She picked one up and noticed it was a newspaper. She glanced at the date. These people were really messed up. She rolled her eyes and took the shirt and skirt off, feeling much better in her cut offs and tank top. She rubbed her head where the doc had stitched up the evidence of her fall and sank onto the edge of the bed. She glanced at the door. Would they care if she listened to her cd player? How 'anti-technology' were they? She got the feeling that they really didn't know about this stuff. Whatever. She was alone in this room, what could it hurt? She pulled out the "Titan A.E." soundtrack and pulled the phones over her ears. She checked her batteries. Half. Well, that was no problem, she had two whole extra packs of batteries stuffed somewhere underneath her jeans. She layed back, her legs dangling off the edge of the bed, the sounds of Lit pounding through her head and she forgot all about everything. Well, she didn't forget. She ignored it all. She had no problems..........................  
"Ms. Sully? Blake?" She sat up quickly. God, had he been knocking? She pulled off the phones and stuffed them back into her bag, just in time too because Sully must've been worried about her and opened the door.  
"Oh, uh, I'm......sorry" He seemed extremely embarrassed and Blake was confused for a moment until she realized that he must think he'd caught her in her under clothes. Which of course he hadn't and Blake had no intention of letting him think he had.  
"Look, I....where I come from, this isn't indecent" she said quickly, standing up, "Wearing shorts and a tank top. So don't worry about it." He didn't look the least bit relieved.  
"Uh, Mike says dinner's ready" he said, still averting his eyes. Blake sighed. So much for that.  
"Right. I'll be down in a second" she said. He left, closing the door again, and she woefully donned the skirt and shirt again. She trudged down the stairs and joined the family at the table. Sully carefully made sure not to look at her for a second too long, or touch her fingers with his when he passed a dish. She was wholly uncomfortable, and she knew he'd probably be feeling awfully guilty and she wished there were something she could do to relieve that feeling, because she knew how it felt, to be guilty, but she didn't know what she could say without making it worse. So she suffered through dinner and retreated to her room as soon as she had asked if Michaela needed help with the dishes and been told no. Darkness fell quickly, more quickly than Blake would've thought. She stared out the window at a landscape she could not see, but for the moon that shone. She must've stared at it for hours, letting things swirl through her mind until she could barely stand to blink. Then, she fell into bed.  
But her sleep wasn't peaceful. Images rushed through her head, stealing all peace she may have had, any chance she had had of taking what sleep offered her. There were blurred images of her mother, always with a bottle to her lips and a scream in her throat, her father's funeral, she the only one in attendance, the letters from Zander that her father tossed into the fire without opening them and that finally stopped coming, then of the dark and the rain and the pain and the stone that fell..................  
"NO!" She sat up, tangled in the sheets and blankets, stark panic running through her. She sucked in breath after breath but nothing helped. Her mind would not clear and she couldn't think. No she could..........she could think that it wasn't a dream, that she really, somehow, had been transported back in time, or had gone crazy and was hallucinating this all. Neither was an option she could handle.  
"No! NO!" she screamed again, falling off the bed and kicking her legs until she had freed herself from the blankets and sheets. If she could have seen herself, she would have seen that her eyes were wild, like an animal cornered and wounded. She sprang up, glanced around. Yes, it was the room she had fallen asleep in, fully bedecked in 1860's style. Blake felt as if she'd gone just a little mad. If she could just get out.....get back to that gorge.........her car would be there........and she'd just turn around and go back to Chicago...........or she'd wake up in that gorge and climb out and find her car..................find her car.........all she had to do was get out........go back to that gorge.......................  
She bolted for the door. She fumbled with the lock just a bit in the dark but got it open and tumbled down the stairs. She could hear people behind her, emerging from their own rooms and lurched for the front door.  
"Blake? Blake, where are you going?!" she heard a woman yelled but Blake couldn't pay attention to that now. She was out the door and on the porch and then the ground. The earth was wet beneath her bare feet, it was raining. She could feel the cool beads of water on her face and running through her hair, down her back and through the cavity between her breasts.  
  
"Blake, come back in the house!" Sully yelled behind her, from the porch, but she was still running. There was a fence, no problem, she vaulted it, farther now, through the woods, the gorge was that way. Her foot landed on a stone and it hurt but she kept going. Faster, faster! She was breathing hard, almost not breathing, but she had to keep going. All thought fled her mind..................there is no thinking in the bowels of panic, when your world and everything you held as a certainty was torn asunder, when you are reduced to instinct and adrenaline.  
She tore through the woods as the rain continued to pour down, lightning cracking above to illuminate the trees and shrubbery that she paid no mind to, the thunder only startling her further, making her run faster, branches whipping at her face and arms, causing little cuts that bled and obscured her vision and made her taste salty blood.  
"Blake! Blake where are you?!" a voice called and she could hear him now, running right behind her. He was so close! She had to get to the gorge, that's what she had to do.......that gorge and fall into it and she'd hit her head again and wake up in the right place, or else she'd die. That would be okay too. Anything to make this end! Just make it end! Make it end! Make it end!  
She tripped over a branch and fell to the ground. She did hit her head, against the trunk of a tree she screamed. She didn't bother getting up, the leaves were cold and the nettles were poking her skin. Her mother was screaming at her, her breath smelled like alcohol, her teacher was yelling at her and ripped her paper in two, Dad threw Zander's bag out the window and the glass shattered over the couch. Blake started shaking and curled her legs up into her stomach. The rain continued to pour down over her in sheets, plastering her clothes to her skin and soaking the ground beneath her.  
"No, no, no, no" she murmured over and over and over until it became a chant, one that she could not give up. How long did she lie there? She didn't know, but it felt like hours. She felt her muscles tense up and freeze as the rain rolled of her skin and the wind blew through the trees.  
"Blake?" he was speaking over the rain, but it sounded like he was whispering. He was bent over her, trying to protect her from the rain with the blanket he had thrown over his shoulders. She turned her head, just an inch and looked up into his face. Blue eyes shown down at her, regret and worry tinging them, strength and kindness highlighting them. She was breathing raggedly, hyperventilating really, shivering in the rain, voice fading away and finally, just a little reassurance entering her heart.  
"Oh, Blake" he said and she could feel his arms scooping under her legs and under her neck. She couldn't put her arms around his neck, she couldn't move them away from their sheltered place against her chest. But she could feel his warmth seeping into her from his chest, warming her up. She was safe. The screaming stopped. No one was yelling at her. She shut her eyes, at long last, and went to sleep. 


	6. Giving In

**Your Future Past**

**This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.**

**To borrow a phrase: _Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman_ and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue…….please?**

She had a fever. From the rain and cold. How the hell do you get a fever from being cold? If Blake hadn't been nearly delirious with fever she probably would have asked. Dr. Quinn continued to talk to her never the less, telling her about the weather, the funny things Katie had done, how her condition was improving or not. Blake's mind rolled its eyes at these chirpy bits of information. I mean, who really cared if it was windy out again today? She drifted between the past and the present, or perhaps more accurately between the present and the future. In her mind she saw her brother on TV, her father smashing it, her mother tossing back another scotch. Her eyes flashed open, expecting to see him, ready to yell, and found only an empty room with a view of a prairie. The door would open and she would expect to see her mother, but instead Michaela would walk in.

Sweat drenched her pillow, her sheets, the blankets, her clothes. Blake was freezing. Voices from the hallway woke her out of a fitful sleep. Her father was growling at her mother in the hall. Or…no, that wasn't her father. It was Sully and Michaela. Now her mother was pulling another bottle from the linen closet. Or was that Michaela pulling out sheets?

"She has no where to go Sully"

"You don't know that"

"We can't just put the poor girl back out on the streets. She'd be eaten alive out there"

"We don't know anything about her, Michaela. The way she was dressed, the way she never answers a direct question. She could be crazy for all we know"

"She is a little odd, but she's still a helpless girl who is lost and on her own"

The voices went away after that. Blake wondered who this girl was and why her mother was so willing to look after her. Maybe she worked at a liquor store and could get the stuff for cheap?

After two days the fever broke and so did Blake. Her will to fight against the insanity of reality evaporated. It was finally apparent that she was where she was and, seeing as she didn't know how she got there in the first place, there wasn't any getting back to her original time frame. Did she really want to get back to that anyway? Back to a drunk of a mother, an abusive father, a missing brother, nasty looks from teachers and leering looks from college boys who thought that just because she wore a mini skirt with knee high boots she was just like all the girls she hung out with. Back to a couple hundred in her pocket, a quickly depleting gas tank and no where to go and no one to see? Oh, yeah, she really wanted to get back to that. Still, what was there for her to do here? Eighteen year old girls of this time knew how to do things, or were getting married soon. Blake sighed, sitting up in Colleen's bed. She didn't know hot to do anything except be a pain in the ass. Although, she was rather good at that. She had no way to earn her living, and she could only expect the doctor and her husband to take care of her for so long. She could run off and live with the local Indians, they generally took people in. But living in the wild without indoor plumbing, or sugar, or cotton clothes didn't exactly appeal. Beds, food she recognized, the use of English. Blake was unintentionally making a list of all the things about her new circumstances that were similar to the old ones. The things that made it no so different. Yeah, right. She couldn't focus on the differences, though. If she did, she would go insane. Well, more insane than she currently was anyway. I mean, what kind of psycho went running out into the wilderness in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, bare foot and half naked? The same kind of psycho that had hallucinations about being transported back in time, obviously. Blake tried to imagine her body strapped into some hospital bed, asking the nurses where Michaela was and complaining about her rabbit stew. Somehow it didn't fit.

By the third day, her temperature was back to normal and Michaela came into the room smiling, a dress in hand.

"Are you ready to get up? I've brought you a new dress" the doctor said, "Colleen is waiting to go into town if you want to go with her" Blake resisted saying something snide, realizing she was going to need something from the woman. Plus, all of her witting one liners seemed to go right over the good doctor's head.

"Dr. Quinn," Blake started. What was she going to say? I'm actually from the future and so obviously I don't have anywhere to stay, no money and no skills. Mind if I stay with you for a while? She might as well say, hi, I'm insane. And insane people of the era were not treated especially well. And yet, a good lie didn't present itself. Was she losing her touch? If she were home Blake would have been able to rattle off a great lie in no time. No thinking required, words of the most convincing nature would just roll of her tongue, congruent with any lie she might have told previously. She was known for her lies. Or, she would have been if she'd ever been caught in them.

"I seem to find myself in a precarious situation" she said. Michaela stopped fiddling with the curtains and turned around to listen. Did the woman have some kind of "I'm going to ask a huge favor" radar? She looked like she knew exactly what Blake was going to say.

"I don't have anywhere to go" She waited for the doctor to say something. When she didn't, Blake went on, "And I have no money. And no skills"

"I thought you might say something like that" Michaela admitted, "Sully and I have already talked about it. You can stay with us until we find something for you"

"I really can't do anything" Blake emphasized, "I can't cook or sew or ride a horse or…you know, anything"

"I couldn't ride a horse when I first got here" Michaela smiled, "You'll learn. Here, put the dress on and go into town with Colleen" And with that the doctor exited leaving Blake alone to figure out how she was going to make this all work.

As the days went by, she only felt more and more useless. Sure she could wash dishes, or keep an eye on Katie, but most of the time she felt like she was simply in the way, another mouth to feed with no good use. Sully barely spoke to her, keeping his distance very well. He didn't like her being there, she could tell. Well, she couldn't blame him, she was after all more than a bit out of the ordinary here. Michaela seemed happy to have her around the house. With three of her children gone and the fourth just barely walking it was a relief to have someone to talk with. Sully wasn't a big talker. Still, Blake didn't leave the farmstead. She didn't go into town. She ate as little as possible, made her own bed, was careful not to get dirty or smelly so she could wear this same dress for as long as possible without asking Michaela for a second one so this one could be washed at least. Blake was walking life on tippy toes, afraid of doing this or that, saying something crass or doing something inappropriate. She spent a lot of time in her room.

Two months went by like this. Blake tried to forget that another day had passed each time she went to bed. Her life was nothing but a walking dream. She couldn't complain, it probably would've turned out a lot worse if she'd never fallen off that cliff.

It was a lovely late morning. The family was staying in town for lunch, so Blake had hours to herself. She discarded the dress for her cut offs and tank top and headed outside. There was just a bit of grass in back of the house that she could splay on and let her skin soak up the sun. She slipped her earphones over her ears and closed her eyes. Soon she was singing along with her mix tape, aware that every second was precious because once she ran out of batteries that was it.

"I am beautiful! In every single way! Words can't bring me down!" Blake belted it out into the empty valley, "I am beautiful! No matter what they say! Words can't bring me down! So don't you bring me down, today!" The Christina Auguleria song had been running through her head all day for some reason or another. She didn't particularly like the singer, but she liked the lyrics. She didn't normally belt any song out, she tended to just sing under her breath, but she was all alone at the house and so she knew there wouldn't be anyone around to here her for miles. Anyway, it was too quiet. Too quiet to even think, and Blake felt like thinking. She had to think of something. Maybe she couldn't pay for her living, but she could help out. It was finding something she could do without burning the whole place down, or letting all the animals go, or doing some other disastrous thing, that was the problem. Michaela had told her it wasn't necessary, but what else was she going to do anyway?

So here she found herself, alone and singing as loud as she liked, really whipping it out. In fact, had she stopped to listen, she would've heard her voice echoing. But she didn't stop, which was probably why she didn't hear Colleen until the woman said

"Your singin's real pretty" Blake stopped immediately and opened her eye, slipping her earphones off and pushing herself up onto her elbows.

"I like that song you were singin'. I never heard anything like it before" Blake swallowed hard.

"Oh, yeah" She squirmed a bit under Colleen's steady gaze, "Uh, there's tea in the house. It should still be hot"

"Come have a cup with me?" Colleen offered. Blake didn't want to have tea. She didn't want to sit there in her shorts and tank and watch Colleen avert her eyes but not say anything. She didn't want to sit there and pretend that she even sort of appreciated the girl trying be nice, a friend for Blake that she didn't want.

"Yeah, sure" she said and followed Colleen in. They took their tea onto the porch though.

"I see you don't care much for Dr. Mike's skirt"

"It's not that, it's just...well to tell the truth I hate wearing them and I figured if no one was around it wouldn't offend anyone if I wore my own clothes" Blake replied with half a smile. Colleen laughed.

"Well, I won't tell" she said and sipped at her tea. She gave Blake a sideways look.

"So, where did you get that voice from?" Blake thought she had escaped that one. Dang.

"Uh, guess my whole family is musically inclined" she answered with a frown, "My brother..." her frown deepened at the thought of Zander, "Where I come from, my brother's real famous for his music"

"Well, you certainly have a talent" Colleen told her, "Did you ever take lessons or anything?" Blake almost laughed.

"Nope. My school councilor always used to tell me I should try out for American Idol but my Mom hated it when I sang." Colleen had a confused look on her face. Blake rolled her eyes.

"Uh, it's this kind of...choir. Very famous where I come from" she explained.

"You should've! I know, you should sing for the Church talent show!"

"Oh, no! I'm not that good. I'm not singing in front of all those people and making a fool of myself" Blake replied adamantly.

"But you are good! What would you sing? That song you were singing? I bet you could sing Amazing Grace beautifully! Oh, you really should, Blake!" Colleen urged.

"Nope. Out of the question" Blake said.

"It'd be a great way for you to meet some people. They're all starting to talk about the girl that's staying with Dr. Mike that nobody ever sees" Colleen was smiling but Blake had a sneaking feeling that her trying to stay out of the way was causing Michaela more trouble than it was helping.

"It's coming up here in a few weeks. The whole town is going to show up. There's a big party afterwards" Colleen urged.

"Well, maybe I could come to the party. But I don't want to sing" Blake gave up. Colleen smiled and nodded. Blake had a bad feeling about this.


End file.
